Coverages

Agents learn early that there are two types of property, real property and personal property. Real property is generally defined as land and everything attached to the land such as by roots, by being embedded in the land, permanently resting on the land such as a building or property permanently attached to the building. Personal property is essentially everything that isn’t real property. But there is a middle ground – fixtures. Fixtures begin life as personal property but become part of real property by attachment; however, they maintain their individual identity. Obviously, then, fixtures should be insured as real property. Or should they? Is it really that easy?

A surveyor’s equipment was stolen while on a job site. The adjuster denied the claim under the CP 00 10 Property Off-premises coverage, citing the exclusion for such property while on a premises you “own, lease or operate,” and claiming the insured was “operating” on the premises. Is this a correct interpretation?

A prospect’s lease requires that the tenant (him) be responsible for only the heating and air conditioning system (HVAC) under a provision that the tenant “maintain, repair and replace” the system. So I need to be certain that my insured’s policy has coverage for the HVAC system. Would the tenant’s improvements and betterments coverage in his CP 00 10 apply to the lessor’s HVAC system?

An insured had an open lot business and stored a substantial amount of business personal property (BPP) in an enclosed shed. They did not insure the shed. Thieves stole $5,000 worth of BPP. The adjuster says it isn't covered because it wasn't in a DESCRIBED building, but it would have been covered if in the open! Is this correct?

In the event of partial losses, the limit of insurance is usually adequate to include the cost of debris removal. However, in some cases, the limit might not be adequate or the commercial property form's debris removal sublimit might restrict coverage. That begs the question, 'How much debris removal coverage do I need?' For this article, we polled the VU faculty, some experienced agents, and a group of risk managers to get their thoughts.

Building coverage includes personal property owned by you that is used to maintain or service the building or structure or premises, including: appliances used for refrigerating, ventilating, cooking, dishwashing or laundering. Does this apply to any laundry equipment (e.g., a public laundromat) or only if it is actually used to 'service the building' (e.g., a hotel linen laundry)?

If you insure the tenant of a building and they install improvements and betterments, you certainly want to make sure they're adequately insured, particularly if the lease makes the tenant responsible for damages. However, if you insure the building owner, they must be just as vigilant in updating their coverage. Here's why....

As every self-respecting Insurance Geek knows, one word in an insurance policy (in fact, even a punctuation mark...but that's another story) can make all the difference in coverage or lack thereof. So, with apologies to Bill Clinton for the title of this article, let's take a look at an actual claim that boiled down to a single word...

In the very first issue of the VUpoint newsletter, we included a one-paragraph article about a relatively unknown, or at least overlooked, coverage gap in the ISO Building and Personal Property Coverage Form. In this article, we'll take another look at that gap, along with some other issues related to property in undescribed buildings.

Much has been written about trees and homeowners policies but what about commercial lines forms? Do they cover trees differently than personal lines forms? And what about the business income exposure presented by the loss of trees and their removal? This article examines these issues and references related articles from the VU library.

With increased costs in this hard market, many insureds want to reduce their premiums. One way to do that is through the use of deductibles. But, how large a deductible is appropriate for your insureds? In this article, we'll give you some tips from our faculty and several top risk managers that may help you and your clients.

An I&B claim was denied because the owner of the leased area had not made any betterments or improvements at his own expense since the lease began...all of the improvements were made just prior to assuming the lease. His policy covers I&Bs 'acquired' by the tenant. What does 'acquired' mean?